Tally keeper



Feb. 15, 1938. c, wo 2,108,103

TALLY KEEPER Fiied Aug. '15, 1957 ATTY,

Patented Feb. 15, 1938 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFIQE TALLY KEEPER Application August 13,

2 Claims.

The invention is a simple and inexpensive counting device by which a t-ally may be kept. It is particularly useful to farmers, truck drivers and pieceworkers, and will be found tobe generally useful in many other fields of industry in which it is desired to keep a tally or score.

The device is equipped with a pull chain manually operated to register a count. A counting mechanism is contained within a casing and is actuated by a tripping mechanism when the chain is pulled.

A salient feature of construction resides in providing a lug for suspending the casing on a wall, and disposing the pull chain so that the pull is taken directly on the lug without any tendency to cause the casing to wabble.

The invention essentially consists of a counting mechanism in which a step bystep rotation is imparted to an actuating ratchet wheel by a trip dogcarried by a quadrant operated by the pull chain. The invention also comprehends a resetting mechanism comprising perforated dials manually turnable by a pick that for convenience is carried by the pull chain.

Having briefly recounted the nature of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a perspective view in which a part of the front wall is broken away to disclose a unit dial.

Figure 2 is a view of the back of the case.

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section taken on line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the full width of the casing and showing the mechanism therein, the tripping mechanism being depicted in retracted or normal position.

Figure 5 is a similar but fragmentary view showing the tripping mechanism advanced by the pull chain.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure throughout the drawing.

Referring to the accompanying drawing in which the preferred construction of the invention is illustrated, the numeral 6 generally denotes a casing having a front wall 1, integral side walls 8 and a detachable back plate 9. The front wall contains three horizontal aligned apertures IE] constituting sights. The back plate enables access to be had to the interior of the casing and is preferably detachably connected by prongs H inserted in apertures. The ends of the prongs may be bent over to form a secure connection. It will of course be understood that other means may be resorted to for the purpose of attaching the back plate, if so desired.

1937, Serial No. 158,873

The top of the back plate has an integral lug i2 upwardly extending and pierced as at $3 receptive to a fastening element for the purpose of suspending the. device on a wall. In the event that it is desired to secure the back plate by more than one fastening element, apertures M are provided at the lower corners of the back plate receptive to fastening elements. The use of these additional apertures, however, is optional.

Formed in the back plate is a suitable arrangement of openings as at l5 which enable the mechanism to be inspected and parts replaced when necessary.

The counting mechanism comprises a series of dials, preferably three in number, identified at i8, i1 and i 8 as shown, each of which. consists of a circular disc rotatively journalled in the casing in overlapping formation. Each dial bears digits from one to nine and a nought on its outer face which individually appear to view through the respective sights as the dial is rotated. The indicia may be suitably inscribed, such as by lithographing or otherwise as is common in the art. The dial It represents units, the dial i'l tens and the dial l8 hundreds. The dials are positioned directly behind the front wall I of the casing in order that their indicia may be readily read through the sights aforementioned, which dials in the preferred construction of the invention are to be mounted upon fixed stub shafts as at l9 by means of a sleeve-like hub 21). Each hub turns with its dial and presents a long bearing surface that resists wear and tear. Each dial has a ratchet wheel 2! integral with or secured to its hub and provided with ten teeth.

The ratchet wheels are individually held against retrograde movement by resilient detents 22 'attachedto the casing. The ratchet of the unit dial has a projection at one side in the form of a bent wire 23 that presents a tooth for turning the ratchet wheel of the tens dial a distance of one tooth in each revolution of the unit dial, similarly the ratchet wheel of the tens dial is provided with a tooth 24 for fractionally turning the third dial l8 each time it makes a complete revolution.

The tripping mechanism comprises a quadrant 25 having a pair of spaced side plates attached to a hub 26 journalled on a fixed stub shaft 27. The stub shaft is similar in construction to the stub shafts I9, all of which stub shafts may be constructed with a head at the front end and locked in place at the rear end by means of inserted wires as indicated at 28. The wires are arranged to preclude the shafts from turning. Such construction may of course be modified according to circumstances. The quadrant is provided with a curved or circular wall 29 united with the aforesaid side plates and presenting an arcuate face substantially on an arc whose centre is common with the axis of the quadrant. A pull chain 39 is applied over the curved face of the quadrant and has its upper end attached thereto at 3| and extends downwardly through a member 32 providing a guide passage therefor. The chain extends'for a suitable distance below the casing and carries a pick 33 for the purpose of resetting the counting mechanism, as will be hereinafter explained.

The flexible element 30, upon being pulled, turns the quadrant about its axis imparting a fractional turn thereto. The quadrant carries a trip dog 34 pivoted on an axis extending between the upper parts of the side plates thereof and having its distal end inwardly curved as at 36 to engage the teeth of the unit ratchet wheel 2|. An arm 3? radially extends from the trip dog at its pivotal axis and is angularly disposed with respect of the length of the trip dog. This arm is connected to a tension spring 38, which in turn is connected to a Wall of the casing. The spring not only functions to urge the trip dog into contact with the teeth of the ratchet wheel but also retracts the quadrant to its normal position following a pulling operation. Means are provided to limit the oscillatory movement of the quadrant, which means consist of prolonging the side plates of the quadrant to compose fingers 39 adapted to abut a wall of the casing in the retarded position. The members 39 thus are held in abutment with the casing by the spring 3'! in the normal position of the quadrant and when the quadrant is advanced a forward limiting stop is provided by the engagement of the edge 43 of the curved part 29 which contacts the casing, as shown in Figure 5. The quadrant has a movement about its axis sufficient to enable the trip dog to advance the unit ratchet wheel a distance of one tooth each time the chain is pulled. It will therefore be evident that when the tripping mechanism has been actuated ten times, the unit dial will have made a complete revolution and the tens dial will have been turned a distance of one-tenth of a revolution.

The re-setting mechanism comprises a series of equally spaced circumferential apertures 4| arranged in the dials ll and is in accordance with the spacing of the teeth of their ratchet wheels. Two adjacent apertures of each of these dials are accessible by means of arcuate slots 42 in the front wall of the casing, which slots terminate preferably in an arrow head in order to indicate direction of movement. In re-setting the counting mechanism, the unit dial is first turned to zero by pulling the chain a sufficient number of times to bring the nought into register with the respective aperture in the front wall of the casing. The tens dial is then re-set by inserting the pick 33 in one of the apertures 4| exposed through the respective slot in the casing and urging the dial forwardly in the direction of the arrow head. This operation is repeated a suflicient number of times to bring the nought into register with the respective casing sight. The hundreds dial is reset in a similar manner.

What I claim is:

l. The combination in a tally keeper, of a casing including an apertured bottom wall, a ratchet wheel journalled in the casing for operating a counting mechanism, a quadrant in the casing below the ratchet wheel and composed of a pair of spaced side plates connected by a pivotally mounted hub, and a curved wall attached to the side plates having an outer face on an arc of a circle whose centre is common with the hub axis, said side plates being prolonged oppositely to the curved wall to present fingers for contact with the aforesaid bottom wall of the casing to serve as stops; 3. flexible element trained over the said curved wall of the quadrant and secured at an end thereto and extending through said apertured bottom wall, a trip dog pivotally carried by the quadrant radially of its hub for engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel, and a spring connected to the trip dog such as to retain it in contact with the ratchet wheel and to retract the quadrant when actuated by the flexible element.

2. The combination in a, tally keeper, of a casing including an apertured bottom wall, a ratchet wheel journalled in the casing for operating a counting mechanism, a. quadrant in the casing below the ratchet wheel and composed of a pair of spaced side plates connected by a pivotally mounted hub, and a curved wall attached to the side plates having an outer face on an arc of a circle whose centre is common with the hub axis, said side plates being prolonged oppositely to the curved wall to present fingers for contact with the aforesaid bottom wall of the casing to serve as stops; a flexible element trained over the said curved wall of the quadrant and secured at an end thereto and extending through said apertured bottom wall, a trip dog pivoted at one end to an axis carried by said side plates radially of said hub, said trip dog having its distal end inwardly curved and directed outwardly of the quadrant to engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel, an arm radially extending from the pivot point of the trip dog, and a tension spring con necting said arm to the casing and so directed as to retain the trip dog in contact with the ratchet wheel and to retract the quadrant.

HERBERT CLIFFORD CATHERWOOD. 

